BOOT OR SHOE SCRAPER AND ANUFACTURING PROCESS
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a novel washable Boot/shoe wiper made with rubber/synthetic rubber either as a mono block or by joining/assembling mainly rubber and brush block/coir fibre components designed with spikes protruding in a manner to touch the sides and the bottom of the boot/shoe when the legs are placed on a rubber base having the functions of a floor mat to clean the bottom parts of the boot/shoe.
The alleged boot/shoe wiper is also designed to remain dry most of the time by the introduction of water draining system made with holes crevices and cavities in the said components and the base. This is quite useful in snow falling areas as the boot/shoe wipers generally get clogged with melting snow/ice. The introduction of spikes in all directions makes it an efficient boot/shoe wiper and the spikes could be so arranged in size and shape to introduce various shapes and designs on theses area of spikes to enhance the cosmetic effect.
The applicant is the holder of the Patent No. 10786 dated 07.04.1995 for a boot/shoe wiper made with twisted in brush coconut fibre rods on a galvanized iron wire frame.
PRIOR ART
The conventional floor mats, boot/shoe wipers are not very efficient and durable as most of them can only clean and wipe only the bottom part of the shoe or boot.
Most boots/shoes require cleaning the sides as well, specially in cold climates where snow is present and in monsoon rain areas where most parts get muddy. Therefore it was necessary to introduce a boot/shoe wiper that will efficiently clean simultaneously the sides of the boot/shoe when a user wipes the bottom part of the boot/shoe and also dries off quickly by draining the water/snow/ice.
Conventional boot/shoe wipers are manufactured with fibre, timber and metal for use at the entrances, exits, doorways and opening of all types of buildings and the designs and techniques used so far, serve the purpose, only partly, creating certain disadvantages.
For example dirt, mud and other substances such as snow/ice are not completely removed from boots/shoes as the wiped dirt accumulates on brush fibres when the brush fibres are placed close to each other and fixed on a horizontal plain generally parallel to the floor on which the boot/shoe wiper is placed. As a result of this accumulation it is necessary to periodically clean these type of wipers by lifting shaking and vibrating. These vigorous actions are not only tedious but drastically reduce the lifetime of the wiper.
The conventional boot/shoe wipers are generally made with fibre, timber and plastic components having a base with a tight configuration on a flat surface, thereby preventing drying by rapid evaporation of any moisture acquired with dirt during rains and snow. These components get loose from their bonding with each other with
passage of time. Moreover when the whole wiper is made out of coconut fibre and timber products these products deteriorate quickly due the retention of moisture and there may be instances of formation of bacterial fungi growth, which is not desirable.
Thus, boot wipers of the prior art have distinct disadvantages due to the frequent presence of moisture and the non availability of an efficient water draining system for quick drying.
DESCRIPTION
The alleged invention overcomes most of the disadvantages mentioned above by eliminating most of the fibre and metal parts altogether. The alleged invention introduces a solid washable rubber moulded boot/shoe wiper having three upstanding portions with spikes to wipe the sides of the shoe/boot and also the bottom when feet are placed on the bottom base platform.
The alleged novel boot/shoe wiper is basically a moulded product using rubber compound having strong spikes on most of the surfaces to clean and wipe the sides and the bottom part of the boot/shoe. Alternatively this can be moulded/assembled/inserted with a combination of rubber and other components such as coir fibre rods and coir mat pieces and or brush blocks horizontally or vertically on the base and upstanding portions. The boot/shoe wiper can also be made by placing a spiked rubber mat on a wooden or plastic base to obtain the necessary contours as in the case of the moulded product with three upstanding portions having spikes in all directions. In another embodiment the three upstanding portions can be replaced/moulded/assembled with twisted coir/synthetic fibre rods and/or the base can be filled with a honeycomb/ringo
design rubber mat base or even with brush blocks or woven coir mat piece.
There is a distinct advantage with the alleged rubber moulded boot/shoe wiper as it is a 100% recyclable and washable product with water draining system and thereby making it very easy to clean and maintain. This rubber boot/shoe wiper is designed to drain the water/ice/snow that comes in to contact with it by providing drain holes crevices and cavities. Since this feature drains all the water instantly it is possible to keep this boot/shoe wiper in dry condition most of the time. The base of the boot/shoe wiper may have spikes on the outer side to facilitate cleaning of the ridge of the shoe/boot. Also the sides may be made with various designs to enhance the cosmetic effect.
Forming a substantially rectangular solid rubber flat surface base platform with three linear upstanding portions lengthwise having water draining holes, crevices as shown in the fig 3 in the drawing sheets. A two-piece compression mould with cavities of the desired design is made out of mild steel with allowable and permissible shrinkage allowances and this makes it possible to compress rubber compound and obtain this product. The mould is used to compress and partially vulcanize the pre masticated and sulphur mixed compound in a heated state. The mould is designed to heat both the cavities with either by steam or electrical energy.
The rubber is masticated to obtain a hot compound in an open mill or an internal mixer, which is usually known as the Banbury machine. Then the hot rubber compound is mixed with sulphur in an open mill to obtain a thin layer of a sheet of rubber still in the plastic state. This compound is allowed to cool for a few hours before passing through sheeting two roll mill or calendar rollers to obtain a uniform
thickness rubber sheet with desired thick gauge.
Then this rubber compound sheets are cut to form blanks and are used in the two- piece compression mould with the required pattern and shape to obtain the Boot/shoe wiper.
Preferred Embodiment
The following preferred embodiment does not limit the scope of the claims of this invention and is explained as an example as one of the possible embodiments.
The boot /shoe wiper is made as follows:
The rubber compound is prepared by masticating and chemical addition on Internal mixers or open Roll friction speed rubber mills.
Blank sheets with even thickness are rolled out using a batch off unit or two roll sheeting mills with even speed rollers.
The rubber sheets taken out of the sheeting mills are cut with heated knives to suit the size of the compression two-piece mould. These cut pieces of sheet are called the blanks.
These blanks are placed in the cavity of the bottom part of the mould after spraying silicone emulsion on the surface of this cavity. This piece of the mould is fitted to a bottom platen of the heated hydraulic press. The upper part of the two-piece mould with the cavity is fitted on the upper platen of the said press machine.
The hydraulic press is operated to close the upper and bottom platens fitted with the
two pieces of the mould exerting an extremely large force on the two piece compression mould containing the rubber compound. The mould is also heated with the heat transfer from the platens of the press machine.
The pressure on the mould with rubber compound is exerted well over 160 bar pressure for about 20 minutes allowing the heated rubber compound to flow and fill the cavities of the mould and then cure and get vulcanized. After this cycle time for curing the rubber in the mould, the pressure is released and the platens are allowed to open and the two bottom and upper mould pieces separate leaving the product, boot/shoe wiper in the bottom cavity enabling easy ejection out of the mould. Then the product is allowed to cool before hand trimming the flashes of the rubber compound that has overflowed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
This description of the drawings or the drawings enclosed does not limit the scope of the claims and is shown here as one of the many possible examples.
The Fig 1 on the drawing page 1 shows a plan view of the alleged novel boot/shoe wiper.
The Fig 2 on the drawing page 2 shows a perspective view of the said boot/shoe wiper.
The Fig 3 on the drawing page 3 shows an embodiment of the water-draining design system and a design on the base.
The fig 4 on the drawing page 4 shows the various designs that may be incorporated on sides of the base.
The three linear upstanding portions are marked and the spikes protruding from the three linear upstanding portions are clearly shown in these drawings.
As shown clearly on these drawings these upstanding portions are about 70 mm above the platform flat surface. The thickness of the base platform area is around 35 mm and may be hollow on the bottom side with spaced ribs/grooves to contact the floor surface. This enables easy draining of water. The base platform may have spikes facing vertically upwards for efficient cleaning of the bottom surfaces of the boot/shoe.